Everybody deserves enough to eat. No one should go to bed hungry, especially in America.
Maria Rose Belding is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the MEANS Database, a food pantry communication system that connects food suppliers and users together. This year alone, MEANS Database has delivered over 1.7 million pounds of food to those who truly, truly needed it. By supplying centers, shelters, and other non-profit agencies with food, MEANS Database allows these places to use more of their budget to help, and focus on, those in need. Learn more about Maria and her story on today’s show!
Tweet ThisKey Takeaways:
[4:05] Nobody wants food to go to waste. So why does it? Maria set out to change that with MEANS Database. [4:40] How did MEANS get started? [10:00] Maria and her interns made 10,000 phone calls from a list that was supposed to be food pantries. Well, more than 20% of those numbers were disconnected. They were only able to reach about less than 10% of those 10,000 numbers. [14:00] The crazy thing is that the United States has the food. We are not in a humanitarian disaster. But for some reason, we are unable to supply unused food to the people who need it the most. [15:10] In April of 2018, Maria and her volunteers have moved 1.7 million pounds of food throughout 49 states and territories. [15:55] What was the first year at the MEANS Database like? [17:35] How does MEANS Database work? [23:05] What kind of impact does this kind of work have on the food pantry volunteers, Maria’s food partners, and her volunteer team? [30:20] Maria feels so blessed and grateful that she gets to work with so many people on this project and make a difference. [37:15] Who are the people who supply the food? [37:50] What’s next for Maria?Mentioned in This Episode:
Email: Hello@Meansdatabase.org
Comments 4
I live in Germany
and i would like to know how i could Start something like this here.
To help other People.
Hi Rolston,
Reach out to Maria Rose and the MEANS dB team at https://www.meansdatabase.com/
I am sure they can help you develop something useful wherever there is surplus and need.
Cheers,
Rob
Rolston, contact Maria Rose and the MEANS team at https://www.meansdatabase.com/ and let them know what you want to do and how you want to do it. I wouldn’t be surprised if they have the APIs to replicate their software, it’ll be the outreach to people, agencies and businesses that will be the most work.
Cheers!
Rob
Rolston, contact Maria Rose and the MEANS team at Hello@Meansdatabase.org and let them know what you want to do and how you want to do it. I wouldn’t be surprised if they have the APIs to replicate their software, it’ll be the outreach to people, agencies and businesses that will be the most work.
Cheers!
Rob